The Christian faith isn’t a hunch. Nor is it the best possible choice out of a banquet of religious options. No, Luke wrote that we ‘may know the certainty of those things in which (we) were instructed.’ Notwithstanding all of the questions and uncertainties we all face in discerning and understanding the purposes of God for our lives, there is at the very foundation of our faith absolute certainties.
For example, we know that we are living in ‘the last hour’ because of the presence of so many antichrists. We can be certain that we are God’s children, and we shall one day be like Jesus. We also know Jesus is going to appear again very soon to take us home. We have the assurance that we have been made new creatures in Christ because of the love that He has put into our hearts for one another. Furthermore, the indwelling Spirit of God provides us with additional assurance that Jesus dwells in our hearts. How precious it is to have confidence in Christ’s ability to keep my soul!
Let’s remember the dear price that was paid to redeem our souls from the power of sin and the kingdom of darkness. What a wonderful certainty we have that we are no longer under condemnation, but are free in Christ!
Friend, have you trusted Jesus Christ for salvation? Do you believe His gospel? Have you confessed Him as Lord of your life? Why don’t you do that today? Then you will know that you have eternal life!
What do we truly know and don’t know? Most of my fellow scientists when puzzled, turn to the “fundamental” laws of physics. What is fundamental? Newton’s laws of motion? Maxwell’s equations? Unified Field Theory? Well, the “fundamentals” often change in science. What we thought we “knew” is replaced, enhanced, or modified as creation reveals new mysteries previously unknown.
There was a time when scientists believed the atom was “indivisible”. Wrong! There is fision, there are atomic bombs, there are nuclear power plants that disprove that “belief”. There was a time when scientists believed the most “elementary” particles were the proton, electron, and neutron. Wrong! Along came quarks- elementary particles became even more elementary. At one point in time, when a scientist made a “good” measurement he/she thought they KNEW the answer was exact. Wrong! Along comes quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle. When things get really small, MAN does not know in advance whether the spin of a particle is up or down. When things are very small, the uncertainty principle teaches that we don’t know exactly the time or location of things and events.
Socrates said “I know that I know nothing”. Partial truth to that. He believed in the existence of “gods”, much more knowledgeable than himself. But, Socrates happened to live 400 years before the birth of Jesus in a pagan world (which he often disagreed with). He cited Plato more often than his “gods”. From that point of view, maybe Socrates was right. He knew nothing.
It GREATLY bothers me when in Christian classes and teachings Plato and Socrates are quoted (sometimes repeatedly) to add to our “wisdom”. Do not mean to offend anyone but that is malarkey. Here we have the word of God, a limited time for a Christian course, and Socrates is being quoted? Give me a break.
A Christian brother once said to me “I am not comfortable with PhDs. They may be atheists, but they are REALLY smart. I just have a high school education.”. I interjected. “My dear brother, you are much smarter than atheist PhDs. You KNOW Jesus, they don’t…”
Let us not be fooled by man and his false sense of omniscience. I will go back to quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle. Quantum mechanics is viewed by many atheists (that I have personally dealt with) as a standard of what we truly know. Here is a comment from a colleague during a back and forth discussion: “I do not believe in God! I believe in quantum mechanics!” The conversation did not end there.
Werner Heisenberg won a Nobel Price in physics for the “creation” of quantum mechanics. Werner happened to be a Christian and a man of great faith. He believed in God as the Creator of all. He viewed Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He saw himself as a “discoverer” not a creator of any fundamental law of physics. What did Heisenberg teach besides quantum mechanics? Let me share one of his quotes:
“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”
Heisenberg knew. My brother with the high school education knows. My atheist scientific colleague did not know.
Thank you Jesus for allowing us to know You.
We know.
God bless,
JoseM